Second Outsiders, Third Story
by FlipWise
Summary: The third installment to Another Brother, Another Story and Diffrent Outsiders, Same Methods. Danny and co. have been cool ever since the entire family go back toghether. But is the drama and action really over?
1. Just Another Day, Just Another Call

Your wish is my command. Here it is. The Third Installment. Hope you enjoy!

I don't own any characters from The Outsiders

Second Outsiders, Third Story

Chapter 1: Just Another Day, Just Another Call

"Mr. Curtis!"

Danny shot his head up. He looked into the eyes of Mr. Hankins. His biology teacher.

"Pay attention to the lesson!" he spat.

"Alright. Don't catch a case," said Danny wiping his eyes.

Mr. Hankins turned around and continued his lesson while walking to the board. It had been four months since Matt had been sent to juvey. Danny's birthday was coming up in two weeks. He couldn't wait. Danny would then be seventeen years old. He looked towards the front of the room and saw Maria. They were still going out and Danny knew how good he had it. His had both his mom and dad living with him; his uncles were around him; except for Darry. He had to finish college but would be back home by the end of the year. The school bell broke into his thoughts. School was out, finally. He picked up his books and met up with Maria outside of the classroom.

"Mr. Hankins is gonna report you to the office if you take another nap," she said.

"I know. I just couldn't sleep. I'm pretty excited about my birthday coming up."

"But it's only two weeks away."

They were walking down the hallway now.

"Exactly!"

Maria rolled her eyes and they went to each other's lockers to get their book bags. They walked outside and Danny saw Two-Bit's car.

"I'll see you tomorrow," said Maria.

"See you later, 'Ria"

That was his own little nickname to his girlfriend. Danny got into the car and waited for Keith and Jack. Houston and Rachel were already in the car. Houston was a lot braver now. He didn't get jumped anymore, and that seemed to calm down Rachel. Knowing that her younger brother wasn't in any danger.

"So how were your days?" greeted Danny.

"Okay," answered Houston.

"Could have been better," started Rachel. "Addy Wilson tried me today in P.E. If Jack wasn't there, I swear I would have swung on that golddigger."

Danny looked at her.

"Geez, that's a cruel word."

Rachel just shrugged.

"It's the truth."

"You know," started Two-Bit, "Your parents are no where near this hyper. I don't know where you get it from."

Rachel just mumbled something while Keith got into the middle of the front and Jack sat down beside him. Danny looked at Two-Bit. He was smiling, 'Oh crap,' he thought.

'Something is gonna happen.'

There was a line of cars going out of the exit. Two-Bit drove up towards the middle of the line.

"Two-Bit!" yelled Rachel.

Two-Bit zoomed up towards the line and one of the cars stopped to avoid a collision. Two-Bit cut in line and drove out of the campus.

"What are you doing!"

Everyone turned around to see a soc sticking his head out of the car and waving his hands around. Danny turned to Two-Bit.

"Don't try that again. Please!" he yelled.

Two-Bit just laughed and drove off to the houses. As Two-Bit dropped Danny off at his house, Jack stuck his head out of the window.

"We still on?"

"Yeah."

They were gonna go walking around and hang out tonight. Two-Bit needed his car. Well…he didn't necessarily _need_ his car. Danny went up to his door and saw a note taped on it. He ripped it off and read it.

_Danny,_

_Will be home late. Going to the grocery store._

_Mom._

Danny pulled out his key and went inside his house. He sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. He decided to watch some music videos, so he flipped in between MTV and B.E.T. He kicked back and watched a couple before he turned the television down and began on his homework. He started working on his math. The phone rang and Danny picked it up.

"Hello?"

"……"

"Hello?"

"……"

There was static in the between so he couldn't recognize the voice. The dial tone then rang into his ears. He put the phone down. He knew he wasn't in some horror film. He just sat back down and finished up his homework.


	2. Night Craziness

Chapter 2: Night Craziness

Everyone was gonna meet Danny at his house since it was on the way. His mom had gotten in and his dad just walked in.

"Hey, kiddo," said Trix walking past him on the couch.

" 'Sup dad."

Danny smiled. He loved his dad. They both had some things in common. They both had been shot, and good at card games. Except Danny was good at Uno and Trix was good at poker. Things were going fine for Trix at his new job. He worked at the most popular radio station his Tulsa. Danny's mom also worked at the bank in town. The doorbell rang and Danny grabbed his hoodie and put it on. He knew it was the guys.

"Bye guys," he yelled.

"Bye Danny."

"See you son."

Danny opened the door and was greeted by everyone.

"Ready to go?" asked Keith.

"Yeah. Let's go."

They all walked outside decided to hang out at the bowling alley. On the way there, Danny told them about his mysterious phone call.

"Someone called me today, but the call couldn't get through. All I could hear was static."

Rachel looked at him.

"You've been watching "The Ring" and "Scream" haven't you?"  
"Shut-Up," said Danny smiling.

Houston was quiet. Jack noticed it and asked,

"What's wrong cuz?" while flipping out a cigarette.

"What's wrong is that pack you've got in your hand. Let me have it," demanded Rachel sticking her hand out.

"Oh yeah. Sorry."

Jack gave her the pack and the cigarette. Jack had been trying to quit smoking. He was doing a lot better for someone who decided to stop two month ago. Ever since the accident with the pregnant girl, he was trying to clean up more. Jack asked once again,

"What's wrong cuz?"

Houston looked up at everyone. Rachel recognized this look.

"What did you do?" she demanded.

Houston gulped.

"Someone called the house asking for Danny's number the other day. Before I could ask who it was, he hung up."

"What did he sound like?" asked Danny. He wanted to know if he needed to prepare himself.

"Not sure. He sounded like he was around your age."

"No it couldn't be," said Keith. He wasn't smiling like his uncle now. That meant something was serious.

"What?" yelled Danny. "Who are you talking about?"

Keith looked at him.

"Do you think it could be Matt?"

That then struck Danny. It could have been Matt. He has heard of teenagers breaking out of boot camp. He could be coming back to kill Danny.

"Let's hope it's not," said Danny keeping his cool. But everyone knew that he had a small amount of fear inside him.

They reached the bowling alley and hung out there. Jack was talking to some ladies, Keith and Houston were at the arcade while Danny and Rachel watched everyone play bowling.

As they were sitting there, Rachel nudged Danny and looked over to where she was looking. Some socs were mean-mugging them. Danny jerked his head to the door, which meant 'Wanna take it outside?'

The socs nodded which meant they accepted. Danny and Rachel got everyone and found about three more greasers. They all trooped outside the bowling alley and walked to the back. The greasers walked up to the socs. There were more greasers than socs and they just stood there staring each other down.

"You gonna do something?" asked Jack.

The socs stepped forward but the sound of sirens came into the background. Everyone looked up and saw a camera looking right towards them. One of the people watching the camera saw the socs and greasers about to fight and called the police.

"We'll deal with you later," said one of the socs and everyone took off. They didn't want to risk getting jailed. On the way home everyone was talking. When they reached Danny's house, Danny walked onto the porch. Jack then said,

"Let us know if you get anymore mysterious phone calls."

"Alright," said Danny smiling. He had completely forgotten about the call. He walked inside and heated up his dinner.


	3. Flashback

Chapter 3: Flashback

The week ended pretty fast and the weekend came. The next coming week would be the week of Danny's birthday. He couldn't wait. Over the weekend, Danny and co. went to a school basketball game. Houston met up with his girlfriend and sat with her the entire game. Mariah couldn't come because her family was having guests over. Steve also decided to take the kids to school every morning. At the basketball game, he and Jack were getting some snacks. Danny then asked Jack something that had been on his mind for months.

"Jack."

"Hm."

"Tell me detail by detail what had happened after I had got shot."

Jack stood there for a second. He sighed and started.

"Alright. After you took the bullet for Trix. He went right down into the ground beside you. Yelling for you to wake up. Me and everyone else were frozen. I looked at Matt and he was smiling. That was a stupid idea though. There were cops all around him. As they were arresting him. We all surrounded you and your dad. I swear cuz. You looked dead just lying there with blood on your shirt. Houston then broke away from the group and ran towards Matt. The cops blocked him and Ponyboy ran up to him and pulled him back. I swear. I had never seen him look that crazy. The ambulance came and rushed you to the hospital. We were all there in the waiting room. Rachel and Cathy were sitting next to each other crying. Houston cried himself to sleep in Ponyboy's lap. Soda, Uncle Darry, Two-Bit and Steve were just sitting there calming each other down. Man, you should have seen your dad. He looked like he was gonna kill someone. The doctor said you were critical at one point, but he came later on and said you'll be okay. Trix went up to the room and pretty soon he came back and told us you had woken up."

Danny sat there nodding his head. He had never had this much drama back in ATL. The game was over and Danny's school totaled the other team.

That Monday as he was waiting for Steve's car to show up, he thought how this birthday would be a lot more different. Back in Atlanta, he was poor, but could still get decent stuff for his birthday and Christmas. He usually only got two or three presents. Two would be from his mom and Alex, but the other would be a girlfriend if he were going out with someone at the time. But this year he was surrounded by family and friends. Plus, they all had some nice amount of money.

Steve's car showed up and Danny hopped in. They drove to the school and dropped them off.

When Danny was walking down the hall, he met up with Maria.

"I see you're a lot more excited about your birthday," she said smiling.

Danny smiled back.

"You know it."

Suddenly a crowd of kids started running down the hallway. Danny and Maria looked at each other. Something was going on. They both ran down the hallway and found a giant crowd around two people. Danny pushed his way through the crowd and saw Rachel. She was shouting with Addy Wilson.

"All right, break it up!" a teacher shouted and everyone calmed down. He escorted both Addy and Rachel to the office. Maria looked at Danny.

"What was all that about?" asked Maria. Danny shrugged.

"Not sure."

Keith then came up.

"Those two ladies have been going at it for about a week now."

Danny rolled his eyes.

"Great. First me, now Rachel has beef with some chick. Is she a soc?"

"Yup."

"Well that answers the question," said Maria. "I've got to get to class. See you guys later."

Danny and Keith walked to class. Their classes were right next to each other.

"Do you think there's gonna be another beef?" asked Danny.

"Hope not. I don't think Pony would like it if his only daughter took a bullet."

Danny laughed and walked inside his classroom.

That afternoon when he was in Two-Bit's car, he was the first one there. Houston came next.

"Where's your sister?" asked Danny.

"I'm not sure. I know Jack is walking with her. Making sure she doesn't get into any trouble."

"What happened?" asked Two-Bit turning around. Danny answered him.

"She was arguing with some chick this morning. Keith says they've been doing that lately."

A couple of minutes later, Jack and Rachel came walking up to them. As they got in Two-Bit asked,

"What's the punishment?"

"I have detention tomorrow," she said with no emotion.

"What were you guys arguing about?" asked Houston.

"She had the nerve to say I stink at sports when she didn't play because she was nervous about her nails!"

"Soc chicks," said Danny smiling and shaking his head.

Keith showed up finally and they drove off. Two-Bit was about to hit the gas but Rachel yelled,

"Don't even try it."

"Okay, okay. Don't spaz."

Danny went up to his house but then remembered something. He forgot to check his mail yesterday. He ran to the mailbox and checked it. There was none. He was hectic about the mail because he wanted to hear from Alex. Over time, he started calling him by his first name. He mom didn't know his last name so he had to say his first. He had just gotten used to it. Danny didn't sweat it though. He was probably gonna surprise him with something on his birthday.


	4. Closer and Closer

Chapter 4: Closer and Closer

That Wednesday, Danny and Maria were hanging out at the park. Danny made it a little romantic. It was at night and the only light that shown was the streetlight above them. They were at a picnic table and Danny had brought food for them. Maria loved it. She had never been on this type of date before.

"Danny. You're a one in a million," she said smiling at him.

"I know. You're a one in a zillion."

They sat there throughout the date and Maria had to leave at 7:30. They said their good byes and Danny picked up the paper plates with food bits on it. He put them in the trash and walked home. He loved Maria. He couldn't believe how perfect she was.

The next day at school, Danny, Keith, Houston and Jack kept an eye on Rachel. Making sure she didn't get in anymore trouble. When she saw Addy she just stared at her as she walked to her next class.

The Curtis and Keith did a good job keeping Rachel out of trouble. She went the whole day without saying anything mean. In Danny's biology class, Mr. Hankins was telling everyone to write notes. Danny was in the back drawing.

He drew a picture of his birthday cake with the number 17 on top of it. He knew of course it would be chocolate. But it would probably have white icing on it like his mother served him.

He wrote down a list of things he could get for his birthday. He wrote down a CD player, a couple of CD's, money, the usual. But he never had a birthday with his uncles, aunt and cousins. This year would definitely be different. Once again, the school bell broke into his thoughts. He got up and met Maria outside of the classroom.

"Well, your birthday is a day and a week away," she said putting on her pretty smile.

"You know it. I can't wait."

"Are you always excited about your birthday?"

"Not really. But now I'm around you, Keith and more of my family. This will be a great year."

They walked out of the school. Danny saw his ride and said,

"There's Two-Bit. I'll call you later on tonight."  
"All right. I'll see you later."

Danny ran to Two-Bit's car. He was the last one today. Two-Bit dropped him off at his house and Danny checked the mailbox. Still nothing from Alex. Danny went inside. His mom wouldn't get home until after Trix came. She works late on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Danny didn't have any homework and didn't feel like studying so he just watched TV. Nothing was on, so he went to the video cabinet. He went through the cabinet and pulled out one of his favorite movies, "Point Break". His uncle Darry showed him this movie. Darry was a big Patrick Swayze fan. As he was watching the movie, he heard someone say,

"Man. Keanu Reeves sure was skinny back then."

Danny looked towards the door and saw Trix. Danny smiled.

"Hey dad."

Danny glanced at his watch. He was so into the movie, he didn't realize how much time had passed.

"How was school?" asked Trix sitting next to his son.

"It was okay. How was work?"

Trix shrugged.

"The usual. People ask for a song, I comment, then I play it."

Danny decided to change the subject.

"What'd you get me for my birthday?"

"I'm not tellin'."

"Why?"

"Cause."

"Cause what?"

"Cause I don't want to."

"What if I make you?"

"I'd like to see you try."

Danny then pulled on his dad, but Trix knew this was coming so he put Danny into a headlock and gave him a noogie.

"Aaah," laughed Danny.

"Give up," said Trix.

"No!"

They played around for a while and then sat down to watch the movie. A while later, they both fell asleep on the couch.

A flash then woke up Danny and he squinted his eyes. He saw his mom standing there with a camera in her hand grinning.

"You two looked so cute right there. I couldn't help it," she said.

"Not as cute as you," said Trix getting up. He went up and kissed his wife.

"Could you two take it to the bedroom?" said Danny pointing up the stairs.

His parents just smiled and Danny then remembered he was supposed to call Maria. He looked at the clock. It was just 7:50. He picked up the phone and called Maria's number. She had her own phone so Danny wasn't worried about her parent's answering. Maria picked up the phone and they started talking for a while. Soon Maria said something that gave Danny a slight scare.

"My parents want to meet your parents," she said slowly.

"..Really?"

"Yes."

"Aw, snap."

"Don't worry. I think they'll like your parents. My dad is average, but my mom is just like your parents. They'll get along most likely."

"Alright."

"Danny. I've gotta go. I'll se you tomorrow. Bye."

"Bye 'Ria."


	5. Biggest Birthday Surprise

Okay. I was kinda nervous about writing this chapter. Just to let you know, when I said 'the next coming week, I meant that Danny's birthday was this week. In other words, this means Danny's birthday is today. Sorry if I confused you. Also, if anyone's ever seen the "That Was Then, This is Now" movie, let me know if it was any good. I read about it and I think Christopher Cain (the director) flipped the point of views. Enjoy.

Chapter 5: Biggest Birthday Surprise

Someone was shaking Danny as he was sleeping that Friday morning. He opened his eyes to see his mom and dad standing over him smiling.

"Happy birthday!" they shouted.

Danny smiled, it was finally here. He sat up and asked,

"Where are my presents?"

"Not yet," said his mom laughing. "Get ready for school. Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you can relax all day."

"Aw, man."

"Oh, yeah. Ride home with your cousins. We're all celebrating over there."

Danny got up and put his clothes on. He walked downstairs and when he reached the kitchen his parents served him chocolate cake with icing, just like he expected. As he finished his breakfast, he heard a honk outside and that meant Steve was here. Danny said goodbye to his parents and ran out of the door. He jumped off the porch and got into Steve's car.

"Hey birthday kid," greeted Steve and Danny just smiled.

"Get anything yet?" asked Keith.

"Not yet."

"You're supposed to get them when you get to our house," pointed out Rachel as Steve drove towards the school.

"What'd you get me?" asked Danny eyeing Rachel.

"Nunya!" yelled Rachel.

"What about you Houston? Jack?"

Houston and Jack just turned their head as if to not know what their cousin was talking about.

"C'mon," pleaded Danny. "I'll act surprised."

Still no luck.

When Danny reached the school, Maria greeted him with a hug.

"Happy birthday!"

"What'd you get me."

"You have to wait until I get to your uncles' house."

"It won't hurt if you tell me now."

"It'll ruin the surprise!"

"Aw, c'mon."

"Not telling"

"Dang."

That day went slow for Danny. He couldn't wait until he reached the end of school. A couple of greasers he knew said happy birthday to him. Ever since he got shot, he was known as the 'Dallas Winston' of this generation. Danny didn't see how he could be Dally though. From what he heard, Dallas was one tough and tuff guy. He finally reached his last class, biology. His knee was shaking every three in minutes in that class. He couldn't concentrate at all. Finally, the bell rang. Danny was the first one out of the door. He almost forgot about Maria.

"Hey! I know you're excited, but you could at least wait for me!" he said laughing.

"Sorry," said Danny smiling.

Danny rushed his girlfriend to his and her locker and outside.

"I'll see you at your uncles' house," started Rachel. "My parents will be there too. Don't act too wild."

"Okay. See you later on."

Danny ran to Two-Bit's car. He was the first one into the car. He literally jumped into the car.

"Whoa, now. I know you're excited but damn."

"Sorry."

Houston came next. Danny looked out of the window and saw Keith, Rachel and Jack taking their time walking towards the car.

"What are you doing? C'mon!" shouted Danny with his head out of the window.

The three teenagers just laughed and got into the car.

"I think you're gonna like my present," said Two-Bit smiling.

"What is it?" asked Danny.

"You'll get it in a minute."

Danny did get it in a couple of minutes. Two-Bit was speeding around town, taking his hands off the wheel and scaring the heck out of the passengers in the car. Well, except Keith. He was too busy laughing. He was just like his uncle.

They reached the Curtis house still living. Danny was the first one out of the car. He almost pushed Houston onto the ground getting out of the vehicle. Two-Bit had barely even stopped the car.

Danny ran in and was greeted by,

"Happy Birthday!"

His parents, Ponyboy, Cathy, Sodapop and Steve were all standing in the living room. When everyone else got inside, Cathy served everyone a birthday dinner. And for desert, they had chocolate cake with extra icing. Pretty soon, Maria and her parents showed up to the party, but only her mother came. Her mother was real down to earth and enjoyed hanging out with the Curtis family. Finally, they gave Danny his presents.

His parents gave him a brand new stereo. His old one could only play cassettes but this one had cassettes and CD's. Ponyboy and Cathy gave him 100.00, Ponyboy saved from his book. Houston and Rachel got him a couple of CD's, Jack and Soda gave him a orange football jersey. Orange was Danny's favorite color. Steve gave Danny a movie called "Jerry Maguire" and Danny already experienced Two-Bit's present. Maria gave Danny a dog tag and on it said:

Danny Curtis 

_Toughest Ever_

ATL to Tulsa 

They spent the rest of the day talking and hanging out. Then the adults had a surprise for everyone. Ponyboy, Cathy, and Soda said they would spend the weekend at Trix's house and the teenagers could have the Curtis house for themselves. What made it even better was that Maria could even stay over. Her mother was real cool. That night, it was 10:50 p.m. and everyone was walking "Jerry Maguire". Danny went back to the back of the house to pick up his CD's and look at the pictures. He went into his old room and looked around. It hadn't really changed. As he was picking up his CD's, he heard a tap. He froze.

What the heck was that. The tap rang through his ear and looked at the window. He froze again. He couldn't believe who was tapping on the window. It was Alex.


	6. What!

Chapter 6: What!

Danny rushed to the window and opened it. What the heck was going on? Alex was here!

"Alex! What are you doing here?" he almost shouted.

"I'll tell you when you let me in. It's cold out here."

Danny backed up a little so Alex could climb in. Alex fell right onto Houston's bed and Danny shut the window.

"Answer the question," said Danny.

"What?" said Alex lifting his eyebrow. "You're not happy to see me on your birthday?"

"Yeah, I'm just a little surprised. You came all this way?"

"Well…"

Danny knew something was up. Alex always said he hated traveling. Why would he come all the way to Tulsa for just his birthday.

"Did something happen?" asked Danny with all seriousness in him.

Alex sighed,

"Tay is after me."

"Tay!" yelled Danny. He could remember Tay. The night his mother told him he was coming over here, he was with him for a drug deal. He thought he would have been jailed since we took his escalade.

Danny didn't realize it, but he yelled Tay's name loud enough for everyone up front to hear him. They all came running to the room.

"What are you yelling about? And who is he!" shouted Rachel pointing at Alex.

"This is my best friend from Atlanta, Alex."

"He came all the way over here?" said Jack with his mouth dropping.

"What for?" asked Maria.

"He was just about to tell me," said Danny turning his head back to Alex.

Alex sighed again and told his story,

"After Danny had left, things were pretty much quiet. His old girlfriend pretty much went on around dating right away. Tay had been caught by the cops and sent to jail. So I was pretty much free to do what I wanted to do. This happened for a long time. About two or three weeks ago, there was a rumor that Tay had broken out of jail. I didn't believe it though. But one night when I was walking home, a car was tailing me. When I turned around the car looked familiar. Then I remembered. It was Tay's escalade. Me and Danny ditched it the night he was arrested. I saw someone stick their head out of the window and I knew what that meant. Before the guy could pull out the gun I dived into an alley. He let off some shots and the car zoomed off. As they passed under a streetlight, I saw the guy's face. It was Tay. Right that moment I knew I had to get out of there. I got my secret money stash and had enough to travel over here, but I wasn't as close. I knew you lived with your uncle and I remembered his name from the book. I looked it up in the phone book and called this house. Someone here gave me your phone number but when I called the call the wouldn't go through. Something was wrong with the phone and I all I heard was static. I had to hitchhike over here."

Danny thought for a moment. All of this happened? Alex was never in any kind of trouble. He was loyal to anyone.

"You're the one that called?" asked Houston.

"Yup."

Danny then remembered. Alex must have been the mysterious caller.

"Is there anywhere I can rest?" asked Alex. "I didn't want to risk falling asleep in some stranger's car."

"You can sleep on my bed," offered Jack. He still shared a room with Houston. "It's right here."

"Thanks," said Alex lying down on the bed.

Everyone left the room and Danny turned back to Alex,

" Night man. We'll talk more tomorrow."

"Aiight. G'night."

Danny turned off the lights and joined everyone in the living room. He sat down on the couch and said,

"What are we going to do?"

"He can't stay here," said Rachel. "Most likely the adults will come back into the house for something and see him."

"But do they know who he is?" asked Keith.

"Yeah. I brought pictures of us when I got here. All the adults saw him and my mom remembers him."

Everyone thought. Where could Alex stay?

"I got it!" said Jack putting his finger up.

"We're listenin'" said Danny looking at him.

"Tim and Curly Shepard took over Buck Merril's old place. It has plenty of room and Alex can rest there. He'll be in protective hands also."

"Perfect!" said Danny smiling. "We'll take him tomorrow morning."

"Great," said Rachel sighing. "Now that that's over. Can we please finish the movie!"

Danny put his arm around his girlfriend. She looked a little depressed though.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Rachel looked at him.

"I'm not mad or anything. I'm just worried about your friend. It sounds like he's in real trouble."

"Don't worry. He'll be fine."

Danny wished that. Deep down, he was worried as heck.


	7. Protection

Yeah! Just to let you know, there are more surprises on the way. Oh, and ATL stands for Atlanta. Sorry for not updating like I usually do though. I caught a cold so I've been resting a lot. Don't worry, I didn't forget about y'all. I'll try to update as much as I can.

Chapter 7: Protection

The next morning, everyone woke up early and was going to take Alex to Merril's old place. They went early to avoid any adults seeing them. They all walked down there in a crowd to hide Alex. On the way, Danny was thinking about what he and Alex used to do back in Atlanta. They used to spray paint walls, shoot paint balls at people, and run jobs for Tay. Tay. One guy no one messed with.

They finally reached the house. They went up the stairs and knocked on the door. Since it was early in the morning, there were no parties right now. It was all-quiet. There were a couple of footsteps and the door opened. Curly was there.

"What do you want kids? I'm trying to sleep."

"Curly," started Danny. "I need you to hide my friend. Someone's after him."

"Who?"

Danny pulled Alex up front and Curly sized him up.

"You'll need to talk to the boss. Hold on."

Danny turned around to Jack.

"The boss?"

"He means Tim Shepard. He's still the leader of the Tim Shepard gang and there were a lot more people."

Tim then came to the door.

"What's up?"

"We need you to hide my friend, Alex."

Tim looked at Alex.

"What's he hiding for?"

"Some guy is after him."

Tim smiled.

"I like that. He can stay. Come in kid."

Alex walked into the doorway and turned his head.

"Thanks guys."

"No problem. I'll drop by every once and a while."

The door closed and Danny yawned and stretched his eyes.

"Let's get back home. I'm tired."

Everyone agreed and walked back to the Curtis house.

"Hey, Danny?" asked Houston.

"Yeah."

"Who is Tay?"

"Yeah," started Rachel. "I wanna know what's so dangerous about this guy. When you came here, all you talked about was Alex and you ex-girlfriend. You never mentioned anything about Tay."

Danny just kept looking straight ahead.

"I'll tell you guys when we get back to the house."

Everyone walked in silence on the way back to the house. When they got inside, everyone sat down and Keith started by saying,

"Okay Danny. Story time."

Danny looked at everyone and started.

"Tay is a drug hustler. I met him when I was ten because he was beating up these guys that were gonna jump me. When I asked him why he did it, he just said because he wanted to blow some steam on people. Pretty soon, he started talking more and he introduced me to his gang. That's where I first me Alex. I joined the gang and Tay made a deal with me and Alex. If we do jobs for the guy, he would protect us. They weren't any big jobs like murder. I could never do that. We would meet guys for him to do deals with. He had a couple of other guys to do that also. That was a good thing. Because one night one of his other guys hooked him up with an undercover cop. That was the night my mom told me I was going down here."

Everyone just stared at him.

"Why isn't he going after you?" started Rachel. "You told us about that night. Both you and Alex took his car to get away."

Danny shrugged.

"I guess I'm just lucky. He could probably only get to Alex for taking his get-away vehicle. Alex told me in a letter that all the other guys had been arrested or disappeared."

"I think it's just suspicious," said Maria.

"What's suspicious," asked Keith.

"About why he would only go after Alex-."

"Stop it!" yelled Danny.

Everyone looked at him. He had his hands on his head.

"I don't want to even think about that!" he yelled again.

It was silent. I guess no one thought about how Danny felt about this situation. It almost reminded some of them about when Trix was on trial.

"Sorry," said Maria putting her arm around Danny. Jack then jumped up.

"Hey. I know. I'll make some chocolate cake. Be back in a second."

Jack went into the kitchen and Keith grabbed the remote.

"Wonder what's on Disney Channel," he said.

"Playhouse Disney," pointed out Rachel.

Keith smiled.

"No," spat Rachel. "We're not watching Dora the Explorer."

"Fine," said Keith laughing. "I'll just see what's on Nickelodeon."

"Okay. But no Spongebob or Rugrats. Watch Hey Arnold or something."


	8. Old Times

Chapter 8:

I know I've advertised before, but if you like song fics I've written one (Thanks DarkDestiny). Look under my penname to find it.

Chapter 8: Old Times

Later on that day, Jack, Alex, Danny, Keith and Houston went riding.

"What should we do on a Saturday night."

Keith thought,

"We're in a car. We could go riding around in another town."

"Another party?" asked Houston remembering the last time they went out of town on a weekend.

"Nah," said Danny. "I heard there's another movie theater around the other town. There's a rumor that it's always packed with ladies."

At the word of ladies, both Keith and Alex yelled,

"Let's go!"

Keith drove for a little bit, and found the movie theater. They all got out of the car and went up to the front of it.

"Man. There are no chicks here," complained Keith.

"Hey. I said it was a rumor," defended Danny.

"Well, while we're here. We might as well see a movie," said Alex.

They all walked up to the posters and looked at the movies.

"I see two movies I want to see," said Danny pointing to the two movie posters.

"Same here," said Jack.

"But one of them is R-rated," pointed out Houston.

"No problem," stated Alex. "We'll the PG-13 movie and sneak into the R-rated one later."

"Just like old times," said Danny. "The movie doesn't start until a good fifteen. Let's go look hang around that Wal-Mart down the street."

So it was settled. They hung around the Wal-Mart. A Hispanic was arguing with some other guy outside the store. The people who worked there were eyeing the teens. That made Danny feel real uncomfortable so he suggested they all leave. They all went to see the first movie; it wasn't really that good.

"Someone needs to work on their acting," said Keith as they walked out.

"I wanted to swing on that guy behind us," said Alex. "Telling us to shush."

"Well we were criticizing the movie a lot," said Jack.

"It deserved it!" said Keith aloud.

Danny peeked into the lobby. The guy was too busy tearing tickets so they could get by quickly.

"C'mon!" whispered Danny.

They quickly snuck over to the other side of the movie theater where the R-rated movie was being shown. They hung around in front of the place. Pretending to go use the bathroom every once in a while. Houston was real nervous. Jack noticed this and comforted his cousin.

"Hey. We ain't gonna get in trouble. We didn't steal nothing."

A soc came out of the movie they were gonna see. It didn't start for a good five minutes, so it was obvious he didn't just get out of there. He just eyed the Curtises, Keith and Alex. He went into the bathroom and then went back into the movie.

Pretty soon they saw the shadow of someone around the corner. It could be a security guard.

Everyone darted off. Everyone went into the movie, but Houston ran out of the back exit. He wasn't gonna risk anything anymore. They got in and found a seat. Danny then asked,

"Where's Houston?"

"Hold up," said Jack. He pulled out a cell phone and called his cousin. Alex leaned over to Danny and asked,

"How come you don't have a cell phone?"

"I don't want one. I can't keep up with all that minutes crap. Plus, I don't want everyone calling me 24/7."

Jack hung up his phone and said,

"He's out front. He'll meet us in the car later on."

"Man," started Keith. "I'm going down towards the front seat."

"Whatever."

Keith ran down to the front row.

Danny then thought he heard something, but he wasn't sure. He thought he heard his best friend say "punk", but he wasn't sure. He just ignored it.

The movie started. About five minutes through the movie, Jack nudged Danny. Danny looked down towards the bottom. The soc that was there had a light shining on him. One of the people who worked there had caught him. What made Danny even more nervous was that Keith was about eight seats down from the kid. They both got up and walked out of the movie. As soon as they left, Keith jumped up and ran up towards everyone else.

"Oh crap," he whispered.

"Do you know how close you were?" said Alex.

"Let's just watch the movie," suggested Danny.

A couple more minutes through the movie, Jack's phone vibrated. He answered it and whispered a couple of things. He then had a surprised look on his face. He hung up the phone and whispered to everyone,

"Houston just called. He said the soc that just got caught was arrested. He also said that they were coming back in for us!"

Everyone looked at each other and got out of the movie theater. They were actually running. They met Houston out by the car. They all got in and drove off. After a while, they were all laughing about it.

Keith dropped Alex off at Merril's old place, and then went over to the Curtises house. When they drove up, Rachel was sitting on the front porch. But what was weird was that there was another car there.

They walked up and Rachel said,

"I suggest you guys brace yourself."

Danny didn't know what she was talking about. They all walked in and all the adults were sitting in the living room. Even Two-Bit and Steve were there. Something was up. It was only 10:00 p.m. so Danny knew he wasn't in trouble for coming in late. He looked at Trix. He had never seen that expression on his face. He then looked at his mother. She had the expression that he was in trouble.

'Oh Crap' he thought.


	9. Turning Away

Chapter 9: Turning Away

Danny gulped. The other teenagers were behind him frozen.

"Do you know why we're all here?" asked Ponyboy with a stern face.

The teenagers just shook their head.

"I'll give you guys five seconds," started Sodapop. "Five seconds to tell us something."

The teenagers didn't say a word and Soda just sighed and said

"We know about your friend Danny. Alex Miller."

Danny couldn't believe what he had just heard. How could they have found out? The answer was kinda obvious.

"Shepard told us everything," started Trix. "He thought the Alex was a little suspicious so he called us asking on some information. He thought we knew everything about what was going on. Why didn't we know about everything that was going on?"

They all just stood there. Jack was wiping his face, Houston was looking at his feet, Keith just kept looking around the room and Rachel was sighing a lot. But Danny was different. On the inside he was nervous but didn't show it on the outside. That was one specialty he had.

"We'll talk to each of you," started Cathy. "Houston, you're going to talk to your father. Rachel, you're going to talk to me. Keith, you're talking to your uncle and Steve. Jack you're talking to your dad. And Danny, you're talking with your parents."

'Talk'. Danny hated those. He looked at his dad. He thought he would never see this expression on his dad. He looked so angry. He was always so cool, tough, playful and relaxed. But now he looked just like some guy who was just put out of jail. Any other thug on the streets. Danny then thought. Is that what he looked like when he was angry?

"C'mon," started Trix. "We're all going to our homes."

That meant that Trix and his wife would talk to Danny alone. Danny looked at Houston. Houston wasn't a troublemaker. He could tell that his parents were real disappointed in him.

Danny walked outside with his parents and got into his dad's car. Keith got into Two-Bit's car and Steve and Two-Bit followed. As they were driving off, Keith looked at Danny. He looked like he was going to sentenced to death row. I guess he had never seen Two-Bit mad at anyone. It was weird. Danny had never seen Two-Bit mad at all. He'd seen him sad when he heard about Trix's arrest, but never angry.

Danny's parents got into the car and they drove off to the house.

"Your girlfriend is in trouble too, y'know," said Trix still keeping his eyes on the road. "I called her mother and she picked her up from our house."

Great. Now he had even gotten Maria in trouble. He had never seen everyone so depressed. Is this how everyone had felt after they saw how depressed he was over is father's arrest?

It seemed like seconds before they reached the house. Danny was hoping it would take long, because he wasn't up to what his dad had to say to him.

When they got inside, Trix slammed the door. He looked like he was trying to contain himself.

"Calm down, Trix. Just try to stay…calm."

Danny looked at his mother. He could tell she was very upset too. She hadn't even known he was connected with drug dealer. This was a real big surprise for her.

"Do you know what you've got yourself into?" Trix almost shouted.

"I was just trying to help out a friend," protested Danny.

"You have a drug dealer after your friend. Why didn't you tell us?"

"You wouldn't have understood!" yelled Danny.

"What make you think I wouldn't have understood? I'm your dad. I would have understood! I was just like you when I was around your age!"

"Then what are you so mad about?"

Danny was getting angrier and angrier.

"That you didn't trust me enough! And you should know that I regret half the things I did as a teenager! Why do you think I ran away? I was still reckless when I came to Atlanta. Look where it led me! To jail for six years! I don't want that to happen to you!"

"I'm not stupid!" yelled Danny. He then stopped. He couldn't believe what he had just said.  
"Did you just call me stupid?" yelled Trix. "Listen. I may have been reckless. But I was no where near stupid!"

This was getting personal. Trix kept yelling and yelling until finally Danny yelled out,

"Just shut-up!"

Danny ran out the door and down the street. He felt like his uncle the night the soc was stabbed. Only he was hit emotionally. Danny kept running and running. He ran towards Merril's old place. Alex was sitting on the steps. He ran up to him panting.

"Danny!" said Alex looking up. "What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you later. We're getting out of here."

"What!"

"Just come on."

Alex got up and followed Danny. Danny wasn't sure where he was going. But he just didn't want to turn back.


	10. A Little Bit Of Traveling

-Just to let you know, this chapter is going to be shorter than usual. I just wanted to get you guys off of that cliffhanger. Sorry if this is a cliffhanger too. But anyway, I'm also trying to save some stuff. There's a lot more to come.   
Chapter 10: A Little Bit Of Traveling 

Danny and Alex ran for while. After about ten minutes, Danny stopped and leaned against the streetlight. Alex ran up to him.

"Why are we running?" asked Alex. "What happened?"

"My dad and I got into a fight," said Danny breathing. He was looking straight ahead, holding his tears back.

"He hit you?" asked Alex.

"No. We were just yelling at each other."

But…I thought you and your dad were cool with each other?"

"Not right now. He doesn't understand, like I knew he wouldn't. He's just like all the other adults."

They started walking now.

"So what are we going to do?" asked Alex.

"We're gonna hideout until Tay finally gets caught. He's not that smart. When he does, you can go back to Atlanta, and I might go back home."

The word 'might' was true.

"Where are we now?" asked Alex.

Danny looked around. He saw a street sign.

"Some place called Brumly."

"Brumly?"

"Sounds familiar doesn't it."

"Yeah, from where?"

Um…no…I got it! It was in my uncle's book. These are some of the guys who helped out my uncles and dad in the rumble."

"So they should be cool with us right?"

"Right. Let's find a house."

They went around looking for a house with lights on. Danny kept looking and looking. He finally found a house and walked up to it. He knocked on the door. After a while, a teenager around seventeen came to the door.

"What do you want?"

"We need some help," said Danny. He was a little intimidated by this guy.

"Do I even know you? What's your name?"

"Danny Curtis. And this is my best friend Alex Miller."

"Danny Curtis?"

"Yeah."

"You're dad is Trix right?"

Danny nodded. His dad was all the connection he needed.

" My name's Jean. C'mon inside. We'll make a plan inside."

Danny and Alex walked inside and Alex told him about his situation. Jean just smiled.

"Today are you guys lucky day. About six other Brumly Boys and me are going downtown. Someone rented a building down there and you guys can chill until we leave."

"When are you guys leaving?" asked Alex.

"In about one or two weeks."

'Weeks'. This meant that Danny would miss a lot of days in school. But he didn't care. He was gonna look after his best friend.

"All right. We'll go with you."

"Cool. We'll go when the other Brumlys show up. I'm gonna go make a phone call to let them know about you. Watch TV or something."

Danny and Alex turned over to the television and watched whatever was on. Pretty soon, Jean told them it was time to go and they followed him outside. Danny and Alex got into the back of a van and the van took off. This reminded Danny so much of when Ponyboy was running away. He ran away after an argument, Jean helped them out like Dally helped Pony and Johnny, and he was riding in a van instead of a train.


	11. Some Thoughts

Chapter 11: Some Thoughts

I don't own "So Gold"

While in the van, Danny fell asleep. He didn't dream anything, which was okay, he wanted to get to the place as quickly as possible. When they got there, they led Danny and Alex into a room. It had two beds, and was a little tore up but it was okay. Danny was still tired and lied down on the bed. Alex knew better than to not mess with Danny when he was tired so he left him alone. As Danny lied there, he wondered what his dad did as he ran out. He probably called his brothers and were searching for him now. He then fell asleep.

When Danny woke he walked outside of the room and met Alex outside.

"What you doin'?" he asked.

"Just looking around. Danny, you know you didn't have to do all this for me. I would found somewhere else to stay after Shepards threw me out."

"They threw you out?"

"Yeah. They said I looked too suspicious. Like I was hiding something."

"Well, if it's none of their business then they shouldn't be all in it."

Alex just laughed.

"Wanna listen to the radio?" asked Alex.

"Sure."

They walked over to the van and got into the front seat. Alex asked one of the guys for the keys and cut the radio on. They listened to a little bit of hip-hop but then Alex said,

"I'll be right back. I've got to go use the bathroom."

"Alright."

Alex got out and the commercials on the radio cut on. Danny hated those so he flipped through stations. He stopped on one and paused. His mother used to play this song a lot. She said it was his dad and uncle's favorite. It was a song by Stevie Wonder. While he was asleep in his room back in Atlanta, his mom would play this and Danny would listen to it. It calmed him so much that he would fall asleep. He decided to listen to it.

"Gold." That's how Johnny described them. Danny was a little gold. He was a troublemaker. But everyone always said he had a good heart. Danny always didn't show it, but he loved it when people said that.

Last forever. Danny never thought how it would be when he grew up. He never even said what he said he wanted to be when he grew up. Would he end up still a troublemaker like Tim and Curly Shepard?

Yesterday. He always thought something happened for a reason. Was that argument he had with his dad yesterday gonna be used for something in the future. Danny then felt kinda sad. He had ran away from his fun loving dad. 'Hold it' thought Danny. He shouldn't have started any bull with him. Was this being gold?

His life did have drama in it. Look at all the things that happened when he got to Tulsa. It was more than when he was back in Tulsa. His dad said some of the stuff that happens in your life is part of growing up.

'Ah,' he thought. This was his favorite part. When Stevie Wonder plays the harmonica. He could really hit the spot when this part comes up. Danny had learned how to play the harmonica a long time ago. He barely played it now though. It got boring.**  
**

The song ended and Danny got out of the van. He took the keys out and gave it to one of the Brumly Boys. He found Alex walking towards him. He was near a telephone booth. Danny wanted to look in a mirror or something. He felt like crying after hearing that song.

"Hey. Where's the restroom?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"You just went there!"

"Oh…um…I pissed in an alley."

"Never mind. That's nasty. I'll find it myself."

Danny walked off in search of a restroom. The tears had then started coming down his face.


	12. What's Going On?

Chapter 12: What's Going On?

They had been there for about three days now. Danny still wondered what everyone was doing now. He was even wondering what Tay would be doing. He hoped he would get up and Alex would be safe.

Speaking of Alex, he was running around a lot. Danny barely even saw him. Whenever he asked him where he was he just said exploring. Alex is one lazy dude. This doesn't sound like him at all. Had Alex changed after Danny left to Tulsa? Was there something he wasn't telling him?

Danny just shook it off. It was late at night and Danny was lying on the bed looking at the ceiling. He had that song stuck in his head. He didn't cry though. He was a lot tougher than that.

Danny heard the door close and looked towards it. Alex finally came in.

"Man. You've been out too much. I was trying to stay up waiting for you."

"Sorry man."

"It's cool. I just want to make sure you're okay. You do have someone after you remember?"  
"Yeah."

"Alex. What was my ex girl doing after I left?"

"She just went around dating other guys. Being the usual freak."

Danny laughed and they talked so more. Later on that night Danny was still awake. It usually would have been because of Alex's snoring. But something was urging him to do something. He decided to do it. Danny got up and picked up some spare change. He went outside into the cool night. There was a good breeze so Danny went back inside to get his sweater.

Danny threw on his hoodie and walked out to the pay phone. He inserted the right amount of coins and called a number. He called Houston's cell phone.

Danny hoped he would pick up. He wanted to desperately talk to one of his family members. He knew if he called Rachel, she would yell at him. Jack and Keith would be emotional. Houston was a straight guy and knew he would have a little bit of calmness in him.

After about two rings,

"Hello."

"Houston."

"…May I ask who's calling?"

Danny sighed.

"It's Danny."

"Danny!"

"Man don't tell the whole world!"

"Sorry. I'm just surprised to hear from you. When are you coming back?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm with Alex. I'm gonna protect him from Tay."

"That could take forever!"

"Houston, if I wanted to argue. I would have called your sister."

"…Sorry. What did you want to know."

Houston was always a reliable kid. Danny didn't think he wold snitch if he had to. Houston actually never did. He was loyal.

"What's the everyone else doing?"

"They were searching for you earlier. They're all asleep now. Your dad is over our house asleep on the couch. They called Uncle Darry and he has friends searching around for you. Where are you."

"Not telling. Um…How's Maria."

Maria was probably the only person he cared about right now.

"She's taking this real hard. She didn't talk to anyone at school. She misses you a lot."

Danny looked at the dog tags around his neck. The ones Maria gave him for his birthday. He wore them everyday. He liked them a lot.

"Houston. I'm gonna go now. Don't tell anyone I called you."

"…But-."

"No buts cuz. Just do what I say."

Houston sighed.

"Fine," he said quietly.

"I might call you another time. Bye."

"Bye."

Danny hung up the phone and looked down. He saw Alex's small book. He was turned to a certain page. Danny picked it up and saw a familiar number. It was Tay's. He remembered how they used to call him to get jobs. They did get some good money off of the jobs. But Tay was one serious guy. Danny walked back into his room and put the book down next to Alex.

The only light that shown was coming through the window. It gave the room a shady look. Danny felt like he was on Turner Classic Movies. He'd only watched that channel once and that was when they were showing "King Kong."

Danny got a pretty good laugh out of that fake movie. He lied down on the bed and thought of his song. He was out like a light.


	13. Trouble

Chapter 13: Trouble 

One night Danny and Alex were walking around town. This lowered Danny's suspicion on Alex hiding something since he was with him this time. They walked towards an arcade and played a little. They were kicked out though, because Danny got mad and kicked one of the machines.

"Where to next?" asked Alex.

"Don't know. I don't live here."

They walked around a little bit more and came across a basketball court. The two walked down to the court to watch the game being played. It was a two on two game and one of the teams was killing the other. Danny figured out they were playing 21.

"Game Point," yelled one of the guys after he made a shot. They weren't playing make it/take it so the other team had the ball. One of the guys tried to go inside for a shot, but the other guy stole it from him. He took it back passed the three-point line and went inside for a shot. He passed the ball behind his back and it went to his team member. He took it in and made a lay up.

"Game," he yelled. "Get your weak butts outta here. Y'all suck. Who got next?"

"A little cocky aren't they?" said Alex leaning over to Danny. Danny smiled and said,

"Wanna show them a little something?"

Alex smiled and they got up.

"We got next!" yelled Danny.

"Y'all," said the guy pointing to the two. "We'll sweep you guys off of the court."

This guy was already getting on Danny's nerves. He will admit, he's a little cocky but he hated people who were too cocky. They don't even know who they're up against. They didn't know them.

"If you're so confident, put some money on the line," yelled Alex as they walked down to the court.

"How much," yelled one of the guys.

"How much you got."

"I'll bet 20."

"25"

"27"

"30! No split. Unless y'all are scared."

Alex smiled. The other guys looked at each other and accepted. They walked up and shook each other's hand. The bet was official.

Danny pulled off his sweater and threw it to the side. Showing off his black tee. He put his dog tags into his pocket. Alex pulled of his jacket and threw it on top of Danny's sweater showing off his long white tank top.

They readied themselves and they guy checked the ball to Danny. Danny checked back and the game started. The guy tried to crossover Danny but he stole the ball and passed it to Alex. Alex faked a shot and made a two-pointer. The crowd cheered a little. The other guys just kept a serious look on their face. Danny guessed they wanted to make the first point.

The game went on for a while. At one point when the game was tied, one of the guys fouled Alex. Alex jumped right back up but Danny stopped him before he could make any moves. He looked at the guy that fouled Alex. The guy smiled. Danny then knew that these weren't any sore losers. Danny whispered over to Alex.

"Time to quit going easy on them."

"Gotcha."

From then on Danny and Alex showed no mercy. They smoked the guys. When Danny made the final shot he went up to the other two sweating guys. They were breathing hard too.

"That'll be 60."

The guys looked at him.

"What are you talking about! You guys said thirty."

"No. My buddy over there said thirty dollars no split. That means we're not splitting the thirty dollars. We're getting thirty each. I guess you guys never knew street talk."

The guys were real angry. They had just been cheated out of their own money. But they had been shook on it so they had to give up their money. They handed it over and Danny and Alex.

Danny and Alex picked up their sweater and jacket and walked off laughing. Danny pulled his dog tags out of his pocket and put them back on. They reminded him of Maria. He really did miss her. Alex counted the money and gave Danny his share.

"Those were a couple of suckers, huh?" said Danny.

"Yeah…Danny. Was Tulsa better than Atlanta?"

Danny looked at him.

"I guess. I mean. I can't compare the two cities. But family surrounded me for the first time in my life. I mean, I know we used to call the gang family. But we weren't blood. I'm glad I met my cousins. It would be even better if you could stay down here."

"Yeah. After I received your letters. I kinda wished that I could come and see how it was. I didn't think it would be this type of situation that would make me come down here."

Danny had kinda felt sorry for his best friend. He was just about not wanted at home. His dad and him always argued and his mom died from cancer. After she died, his dad showed his true colors. He treated Alex like dirt. He probably didn't even care if Alex was in trouble.

They walked around some more and the sky got dark. They decided to go on ahead to the room and hang out with some of the Brumly Boys. When they were a couple of feet away from the building, a car stopped up the street from them. Teenagers then stepped out. Danny's fears hit him. This could be Tay's gang. He was about to yell run but saw two familiar guys. The two guys they beat at basketball. Danny relaxed a little bit. There were five of them.

"We want our money back!" yelled one of the guys.

"You're making a mistake," said Danny smiling. "Turn around."

One of the guys turned around and tapped his buddy on the shoulder. They all turned around and saw about ten Brumly Boys standing behind them.

"Try something!" yelled Jean.

The guys and their friends hurried back into their car and took off. Danny shook his head and smiled.

"Man, it sure is fun being a greaser."


	14. Overnight

Chapter 14: Overnight

The next night Danny was walking around town by himself. He decided to not follow around Alex for a day. He had hung out with Alex the entire day, but Alex wanted to relax at the building. He even suggested that Danny walk around town. He said it would get some of the stress off of him. Danny agreed; he was a little stressed.

As he was walking, he saw someone familiar in the corner of his eye. Before he could find out who is was, a car rolled up next to him. This car was familiar too. It was the car of the guys who he and Alex beat at basketball yesterday. Before one of the guys inside the car could reach out of the window and grab Danny, he took off running.

Danny was running full speed. The car was keeping up real good. He knew he didn't really have a chance of evading it so he cut into an alley. The car stopped for a quick second and then sped around the corner. They thought that Danny was trying to cut through the alley and they were gonna block him on the outside.

But Danny was wiser than that. He anticipated this and checked out of the alley. Right next to him there was another telephone booth. The urge to talk to someone again, so he called Houston again.

The phone rang and rang.

"Pick up Houston," Danny said quietly.

The phone rang and then…

"_Hello. This is Houston Curtis and I'm unavailable right now. Please leave a name and number and I will call you back. Bye."_

His voicemail. 'Dang' thought Danny. 'Where could he be?' Danny didn't have time to think about that because the car was pulling up to him again. Danny took off running and ran down into the park. The car stopped and about five people ran after Danny.

Danny kept running. One of the guys was fast and was catching up to Danny. Danny ran through the swings and threw one of them back at the guy. It hit the guy in the face and he fell onto his back clutching his face.

Danny ran past the garbage dumpster and ran into the street. He jumped back just in time to dodge a speeding car and went back to running. He had to try to make it back to the where the Brumly Boys. Man, trouble seems to follow him everywhere he went.

As he was running he got more tired. He looked back and saw that the guys weren't chasing him anymore. There was a lot of traffic in the street so that must have slowed them down. He slowed down to a jog. He ran so hard, that he felt like he was going to faint. He had never ran like that ever in his life. Even when his dad had gotten arrested…

His dad. He was starting to miss him. He now felt guilty about the way he treated his dad. He wanted to go back home but he had to protect Alex. He didn't want his best friend to get killed.

He went into an alley and found a broken up house. It was deserted and Danny needed somewhere to rest real quick. Danny laid down inside the building and took a quick nap. It was only 8:30 and Danny would most likely wake up around 10:00. When Danny woke up he looked at his watch. It was 7:50.

"Close enough," he said stretching. As he got up the urge to talk to someone again. Houston always kept his phone on so Danny thought it would be a real bad idea to call him. He decided to call Maria. She had her own phone so he knew she would pick up if she was home.

He walked into a local store and asked to use the phone. The man picked up a telephone and put it on the counter. Danny dialed Maria's number. The phone rang once and Maria picked up.

"Hello."

"Maria."

"Danny?"

"Yeah."

"Where are you. Everyone's worried sick!"

"I know."

"You should come home!"

"Calm down. I can't come back now."

"Why not?"

"I'm watching Alex right now."

"…"

"Hello?"

"…"

"Maria?"

"…I'm sorry Danny."

She hung up. 'I'm sorry.' What the heck did she mean. Danny then froze. She was gonna tell someone where he was. She had caller ID on her phone and could tell where he was.

Danny ran out of the store ignoring the people looking at him as he darted out of the door. He had to get back to the building and tell Alex what was going to happen. He had to get them out of there.

Danny reached the building and froze when he was at the doorway. All the Brumly Boys were on the floor groaning and crawling towards the wall. It looked like they had been fighting and just got beaten.

"Please no," said Danny.


	15. I'm Comin'

Sorry. I didn't mean to leave you on a cliffhanger right there. My computer was screwing up with the Internet. Plus I was busy a lot. And thanks for pointing out that typo with the time. I'll have to fix that later on. Oh! And sorry if I get confusing on some parts of this story.

Chapter 15: I'm Comin'

Danny just looked at the bodies lying on the floor. He saw Jean trying to get up and Danny ran over to him.

"What happened?" asked Danny. "Where's Alex?"

Jean could barely speak

"A bunch of guys ran in and attacked all of us. They all had ski masks on. They totaled us. One of the guys pulled off his mask though."

"What did the guy looked like!" yelled Danny. He was getting more and more nervous by the minute.

"He was a Hispanic guy with dark brown hair."

That was Tay all right. Danny could remember every single feature on Tay. Jean got up; he was limping on one leg. Danny could see a blood stain.

"What happened there," he asked pointing to the hurt leg.

"I got cut right there. It wasn't deep, but it hurts like heck."

Danny began walking to the doorway.

"Where you goin?" asked Jean. Danny turned around.

"I'm going to see if I can get Alex out of there."

"Wait a second."

Jean yelled "Gary!" and a guy stuck his head out of one of the doors. Jean turned around to Danny.

"This is one of the guys I knew around town. His name is Gary. He hooked us up with this building. He can get his crew and help you out when you're going to save your friend."

"Where are they?" asked Danny.

"There are all in here," said Gary.

"How deep are they?"

"We've got about 20 people."

'20'. That should be enough. Danny didn't know how many people were in Tay's crew, but he knew it wasn't real big. Twenty people could probably handle them. As long as they were they were tough enough.

"Okay. Call them and let's go."

Danny wanted to go to save Alex as soon as possible. They could have killed him by now. But knowing Tay, he would try some Godfather talking stuff. He was pretty big on that movie. Danny remembered how one time, Tay totured this one guy who he was gonna kill. He did it for a long time, but the cops showed up so they all had to ditch pretty quickly.

Gary called his gang and they all walked outside. They walked around the corner and piled into a truck while some got into the Brumly Boy's van.

"Do you know where to go?" asked Danny getting into the passenger seat.

"I've got a pretty good idea," started Gary. "There's only one other abandoned place around here. It's near the park."

Near the park. That must have been the place where Danny slept. That means that it wasn't early when they captured Alex. They could have reached the place when Danny was in the store, or when he was running back to the Brumly Boys.

Gary started up the car and they rode towards the abandoned building. On the way there, Danny was thinking about all the times he and Alex hung out. They first met when they were in 5th and were friends ever since. Once they had almost gotten caught sneaking into a concert. When they made their first job for Tay. Stole from stores. Danny could remember everything. Danny snapped back into reality when they reached the building. There were many cars in front of it.

"This must be it," said Gary getting out of the car. Everyone got out also and sneaked up to the building. One of the guys took multiple glances in the window.

"How's it look?" asked Gary. The guy answered.

"The room doesn't have any doors leading to somewhere else. Just some stairs. The kid must be up there."

"Do any people in there have guns."

The guy shook his head.

"None of them have jackets, and I can tell there aren't any guns tucked in."

Danny looked upwards and saw that the place was about four stories. Alex could be on any of these stories. It could take a while.

"All right," started Gary. "We'll rush in there. While we're fighting, Danny, you run up the stairs and find your friend. We'll be up there as soon as possible."

Danny nodded. He just wanted to get in there. Gary did a countdown and they all rushed in there. They took Tay's crew by surprise and everyone started fighting. Danny tackled and punched his way through the crowd and reached the stairs.

He ran up the stairs and opened the door. There were more guys in there sitting around a table. When they saw him, they got up and ran towards him. Danny recognized a couple of people, but he didn't have time for a family reunion. He dived to the side and punched one of the guys. He jumped over the fallen guy and slid chairs towards the gang. Some of the tripped over the chairs and some were smart enough to move.

Danny ran over to a door and there were more stairs leading up. He ran inside and locked the door. He ran up the stairs and came into an empty room. There was nothing and nobody in it. There was a door on the other side of the room, which was would surely be the stairway leading to the fourth and final floor.

Before Danny could even take four steps, the knob on the door turned. Danny readied himself. He froze when he saw who came out. Alex came with his arm around Houston. Alex had a gun pointed to Houston's head.


	16. They're Here

-I hope I didn't offend anyone by making Tay Hispanic. If I did, I'm sorry.   
Chapter 16: They're Here 

Danny could barely say anything. He did get something out of his mouth, though.

"Alex! What are you doing!"

"Danny. Don't make this any harder than it is," said Alex. He sounded different. Danny had never heard him sound like that. He sounded like a real life killer. Danny looked at Houston. He was sweating like crazy. He looked like he had a barrel of water dumped on him.

"Alex. This doesn't make any sense at all. Why do you have my cousin hostage!"

"Danny," started Alex. "It was either this or be killed. Tay blames you for him getting arrested. He finds it suspicious that you had skipped town the next day. He says you must have snitched on him. I have no option to do but get you."

"Why are you doing it?"

"Because…I owe Tay."

"For what?"

"My dad left me a week after you moved away. I've been living with Tay for the time being. When he took me I had to work even more for him. It was harder now because the cops were all over him. The only way he can calm down is to get revenge on you."

Danny just stood there. He couldn't believe what was happening. This must be a dream he thought. In a couple of seconds he would wake up in his room, or the building with one of the Brumly Boys, or the abandoned building.

"Don't worry Danny. It'll be quick," said a voice.

Danny looked towards the door and saw a man walking down the stairs. It was Tay.

"Ha. I knew you'd fall for this. Miller is a real gangster now. He'll get rid of you with no stress."

Danny looked at Alex. He had a terrible look in his eyes. He did look like a real gangster. Danny had never been classified as a real gangster. He was more of a hoodlum throughout the gang. A gangster was the second highest rank you could get in the gang. The highest was Tay's spot. The boss. Danny always felt like he was in the Boy Scouts every time someone mentioned it.

"Well, Alex. Go on ahead and finish him," said Tay smiling.

Danny tried to save himself.

"Tay. I didn't snitch on you."

"So what! Even if you didn't. That's no reason for you to skip town. Miller was with me the entire time. Where were you at? Your uncle's house."

"My mom made me go. Plus my dad was coming back over here."

"So you couldn't say your good-byes to me? After all I've done for you?"

"I didn't have ti-"

"Miller. Light up this guy! Now!"

Alex's eyes directed right towards Danny. He pushed Houston back towards Tay and Tay held him. Alex put the gun right on Danny's face. It seemed like the world was put into the matrix, but something happened to Danny's relief.

Alex's facial expression changed as he yelled,

"No!"

He elbowed Tay in the face and he loosened the grip on Houston. Houston ran over to Danny and hugged him. Danny turned around and said,

"Are you alright?"

Houston nodded his head. Danny turned around to see Tay and Alex fighting. They were moving over towards Danny and Houston. Houston ran past them to the other side of the room. But when Tay and Alex in the middle of the room, Tay picked up the gun Alex dropped, pushed him Alex back, and shot at Alex.

Alex caught a bullet in the arm and fell back clutching it. Tay tried to shoot again, but there were no more bullets left in the gun. Tay then made a last minute idea. He ran to the door and grabbed Houston. Houston became a hostage again as Tay dragged him up the stairs.

Danny ran over to his best friend.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah. I'll live."

"All right. Hang on. I'll be right back."

Danny then ran up the stairs.


	17. Fight On

Chapter 17: Fight On 

Danny rushed up the stairs. He was going to save his cousin and rush out of there. He wondered what was taking Gary and his boys so long. Danny finally reached the top of the stairs and opened the door. He got in just in time to see Tay throwing Houston into a closet. It was obvious it couldn't open from the inside.

"Let him go!" yelled Danny.

Tay turned around. There was a mark on his fore head from the fight with Alex.

"Not until I get rid of you! I bet you think you're lucky I have no more bullets. But now you'll have more pain before you die!"

Tay walked towards Danny. Danny readied himself. Tay was one tough guy. He had taken on two guys at once and won. But Danny would do anything for his family. He charged Tay.

Tay tried to swing on Danny but he was anticipating this and ducked his head down. They were throwing punches and kicks like crazy. At one point, Tay shoved Danny into the wall. He was right next to the closet. He charged at Danny, but Danny moved just in time to dodge Tay. Tay slammed himself into the wall, and fell on the ground clutching his head.

Danny saw this as his chance to get Houston out of there. Danny got up and opened the closet door. Houston fell out. Tay tried to get back up but Danny slammed the door into his face as hard as he could. Tay fell on the ground again.

Houston got back up and yelled,

"Danny! You're bleeding!"

Danny touched the side of his head and saw blood on his hands. It must have been when Tay cracked him on the side of his head. He was getting dizzy after that hit.

"I'll be fine. Just go!"

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine. Tay is getting back up. Just run while I stall him."

Houston ran out of there with no hesitation. He knew when Danny was yelling like that, he was in no mood for arguments. This reminded Danny of the night when the socs wanted to get Houston for taking out Matt's sister.

Danny looked at Tay. He was just about on his feet now. They started having it out again.

Danny would have ran out with Houston, but he had to at least knock out Tay. Otherwise Tay would have gotten up and caught the both of them. When Tay is motivated, he would push himself a lot.

Tay started gaining the advantage because of Danny's dizziness. Tay just started slapping him around. Danny could see the smile on Tay's face as he kept slapping. Finally, Tay punched Danny in the mouth and Danny tasted a little blood.

Danny hit the ground but he could still stand up. He could hear Tay moving around but didn't pay any mind to it. He was trying to keep from passing out. He finally got straight and stood back up, but as soon as he was on his feet, something collided with the back of his head. He dropped right there and his face collided the floor. This made his headache worse.

Danny couldn't move at all. It was like when he was hit by those socs the night his dad came back, but he couldn't move a muscle at all. He was too tired and weak. He had just given up right then. He vision was barely clear. He was fading in and out.

Suddenly, Tay had turned over Danny. Danny lied there on his back with his hands outward. He could see Tay looking over at him. At first he was frowning but then he smiled. Tay's lip was bleeding and he mark had started bleeding.

He was laughing. Tay could hear him talking now.

"I don't know what made you think you could take me."

Danny could see what was in Tay's hand. It was a chair. He could see the dent in the chair. Danny felt like he was on the WWE. Tay continued.

"I rule you, and all the streets of Atlanta. That shows you can't get away from me that easily-"

Tay was cut off short because someone came out of no where and tackled Tay. Danny could hear a lot of punching. Someone then lifted him up and leaned him against the wall. It was Houston.

"Danny! Are you okay?"

"Yeah…I'm…fine. Who's that fighting…Tay."

"Your dad."

'Dad!' thought Danny. He felt good then. His dad was gonna take care of him. It seemed like seconds, but then Trix came over to check on his son.

"Is he okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," said Danny weakly.

"C'mon. The police are on their way."

Trix scooped his son into his arms and he walked down the stairs carefully. Danny could still see and his vision was getting a little better. When they reached the outside, he saw an ambulance and police cars. The police were rushing into the building to arrest Tay.

Danny saw Alex in one ambulance with a doctor wrapping a bandage around his arm. Danny didn't have time to call out Alex's name because he was then put onto a stretcher.

"Dad," called Danny.

His dad turned around.

"I'm going to the hospital?"

"Yeah. They're just checking for a concussion. You'll be fine."

"Okay."

Danny then passed out. He was exhausted.


	18. Better

Chapter 18: Better 

Danny had woken up again when he was at the hospital. He saw his dad talking to a doctor. It was quick, and the doctor stepped out of the room.

"Dad."

Trix turned around and smiled.

"You okay son?"

"Yeah. I don't have a headache anymore."

It was quiet then. I guess they both never knew how worried they both were. Danny spoke up first.

"Dad. I'm sorry for the way I acted. It was stupid."

Trix looked at his son. They both hoped it wouldn't become some emotional moment.

"Don't blame all of it to yourself. I was acting crazy too. I just didn't want you to end up like I did."

"It's okay."

They both smiled. Trix then spoke up again.

"C'mon. The doctor said you could leave when you woke up. Can you walk?"

"Let's see."

Danny got up and swaggered a little bit but kept his balance. Trix helped him a little bit.

"I'll help you a little. Let's get to the lobby."

Trix helped Danny into the hallway and into the lobby. When they reached the lobby. A cop was talking with this one lady in an office dress. Everyone was in the lobby and was real happy to see that Danny was okay. But Danny just wanted to know what the cop and lady were talking about. He sat down beside Jack.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Alex. He might have to be put in a boy's home. They can't figure out where his dad is."

"A boy's home! Where is he now?"

"He's at the home now. The cop was just making sure he has no other guardians."

Crud thought Danny. Alex would hate to be in a boy's home. Suddenly Steve walked through the door. There was another lady behind him. They went over to the cop and lady and talked more. Finally, the cop and two ladies left. Danny hobbled over to Steve.

"Where is Alex gonna end up?"

Steve just smiled.

"Y'know. All of the other people in the gang have kids running around. I wanted that."

Danny smiled. He knew exactly what Steve meant. He was gonna adopt Alex. Alex would get to stay in Tulsa.

"Thanks Steve," said Danny.

"No problem kid."

Maria then walked up to Danny and asked,

"Can I speak to you alone?"

"Uhh…sure."

They walked outside the lobby and Maria sighed.

"Danny. I hope you're not mad at me for telling. I was just so worried about you. And-"

"Hey, hey. Don't worry about it. It's actually a good thing you told. I probably would have ended up worse looking."

Maria laughed. They looked at each other for a while. Then they kissed. That was the longest kiss they had ever shared.

…

'It was a week later and Danny was sitting on the porch of the Curtis house. Alex and him had stayed there for the night. They were working on a project with Rachel. It was real early in the morning. He wanted to see the sun come up. He saw it. It was just like his uncle described it. Gold.

"Hey Danny."

Danny turned around and saw his best friend.

"Hey Alex."

"What are you doing up so early," said Alex sitting beside Danny.

"Just wanted to see the sunset. Wanted to know how good looking it was."

"Well, I missed it. How was it?"

"Gold."

"C'mon. You've got to give me more detail than that."

"Then you shouldn't have missed it."

"You're mean you know that."

Danny just laughed. Alex spoke up again.

"I'm gonna go inside. Your uncle is already making chocolate cake. I love this family."

Danny just smiled. He loved this family too. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a harmonica he had just bought. He then played the harmonica part of the song "So Gold".

It made his vision of the sunset more beautiful. Everything wasn't okay now. It was better.

Well, that's it. Hope you enjoyed it. Well this is the time, I will tell you about upcoming events. I guess is that the next one will be the fic about the kid who wonders through Tulsa. Sorry if you wanted the other one, but I think this one will be better. Plus, I'll do something different. I think I might have Dallas and Johnny alive in this story. Y'know, so it'll take place before their deaths. Also there will be more Trix fics but I'm saving those for later. Also expect a fic with the characters of That Was Then, This is Now. I'll also do a song fic. So be on the look out for these. Catch you later!

Coming Attractions-

Louis-UP NEXT!

Getting Into Their Heads Part II-COMING SOON!

Another Side, Another Story-IN PROGRESS

Untitled That Was Then, This Is Now-IN PROGRESS


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